Just a under a month after his first Dew Tour win, 21-year-old Taylor Gold is back at it in the halfpipe at Breckenridge Ski Resort. While his 18-year-old sister Arielle — an equally accomplished rider with podium finishes at both X Games and Dew Tour — runs laps with four-time Olympic snowboarder Kelly Clark, Taylor sits on top of one of the 22-foot halfpipe’s walls thinking about a trick.

After strapping in, he stands up, slides forward a little and eyes the spot he is about to hit on the opposing wall.
“Anything I do here is going to be thoroughly unimpressive,” he jokes.
It’s a few days before the U.S. Freeskiing and U.S. Snowboarding pro teams start their pre-X Games training camp. Taylor, Arielle, Clark and a handful of other skiers and snowboarders are already in the pipe at Breckenridge getting a jump on training and shaking off rust after a holiday break.
Standing near the edge Taylor waits for an opening between riders and skiers coming from the top of the pipe. He drops in, airs out of the pipe with a quick grab and then hikes back up. The small trick is just a portion of what will eventually build into something much larger, more complex.
“I told you it wasn’t going to be impressive.” [Continue full story here.]

Photo/ Sebastian Foltz X Games and Olympic Snowboarder Ariel Gold smiles after a U.S. Snowboarding halfpipe practice run at Breckenridge Resort.